{"author_link":"\/author\/kitch\/","author_name":"Kitch","author_uid":"7470","comments":[{"author_name":"vigrid","author_uid":"10441","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 2:25pm","epoch":1335277200,"text":"Great stuff! Really enjoyable, and nice take on the game mechanics - playing against yourself. Fun way to avoid AI coding :) Make it a phone \/ tablet game!"},{"author_name":"edg3","author_uid":"2864","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 6:12pm","epoch":1335290820,"text":"Was really cool, for some reason it seemed to only ever use my first (practice) round play as an enemy, even though for several rounds I milked the self-AI really quickly.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>It is a really cool concept."},{"author_name":"Raptor85","author_uid":"7131","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 6:12pm","epoch":1335290820,"text":"looks cool, and the mountains in the pictures REALLY remind me of scorched earth (just how jagged and vertical they are).  I'd love to play and rate but XNA4 won't run under WINE"},{"author_name":"Ace","author_uid":"10247","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 6:33pm","epoch":1335292080,"text":"I loved the reason for the fights, &quot;Mages should wear armor&quot; vs &quot;Clothes ftw&quot;.\r<br\/>The aiming mechanic was a bit clunky, especially the limited spell power. Hitting the enemy when you're dug into a hole turned pretty much impossible, the background music was nice though."},{"author_name":"Danvil","author_uid":"5851","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 7:04pm","epoch":1335293940,"text":"I can not play properly. The direction marker ist not shown and all spells are cast at my position with no initial velocity. Looks funny though."},{"author_name":"barigorokarl","author_uid":"3036","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 7:11pm","epoch":1335294360,"text":"Cool idea, sadly my third incarnation killed me quite fast and the fireball isn't very practical, because you have to clear the way for it.\r<br\/>I laughted quite hard at the qoutes you gave my mages :-)"},{"author_name":"Kitch","author_uid":"7470","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 7:40pm","epoch":1335296100,"text":"Thanks everyone!\r<br\/>\r<br\/>@Danvil - Sounds like you need to increase your Power (Up arrow or W)\r<br\/>\r<br\/>@edg3 - It takes a random play from the list of already played games.  So, if you get bad rolls on your random gen, you can play the same one over and over.  \r<br\/>\r<br\/>@barigorokarl - Or is it practical because it clears the way? ; )"},{"author_name":"devwil","author_uid":"7526","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 9:01pm","epoch":1335300960,"text":"***I'm posting this on all non-browser games I bring up in an attempt to encourage folks to make browser games next time around. Do not take it personally.***\r<br\/>\r<br\/>When hundreds of people make non-browser games, that means that, to play all of the entries, I would need to download hundreds of games to my computer. I typically use OS X, so Windows-only entries are particularly inconvenient.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>Please consider making a browser game next time."},{"author_name":"jeroenimooo","author_uid":"9361","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 9:08pm","epoch":1335301380,"text":"I had so much luck i sucked at the first game start. or else i would have never beaten myself ;p The level generation is awesome.It would only be nice if i could move just a little."},{"author_name":"Sup Dood","author_uid":"11915","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 9:09pm","epoch":1335301440,"text":"Good Job!  The graphics are charming and so are the sound effects.  I really like the concept of playing against yourself as well."},{"author_name":"Sestren","author_uid":"10343","time":"Apr 24, 2012 @ 11:23pm","epoch":1335309480,"text":"Very nicely done. The graphic effects and sound are very pleasing, and the gameplay is fun. I was a big fan of Scorched Earth back in the day, and although playing against your previous run isn't always the most fun, it works quite well overall."},{"author_name":"Zillix","author_uid":"2460","time":"Apr 25, 2012 @ 4:22am","epoch":1335327420,"text":"Past me is so much better than present me!  Neat game!"},{"author_name":"R3ason","author_uid":"6105","time":"Apr 25, 2012 @ 4:23am","epoch":1335327480,"text":"That was pretty cool! Really enjoyed the fact that you were actually fighting against yourself, which added a bit of frantic spellcasting, as you knew how the enemy was going to play.  Thanks for sharing!"},{"author_name":"robcozzens","author_uid":"10944","time":"Apr 25, 2012 @ 4:28am","epoch":1335327780,"text":"I would have played it if there was a Web or OSX version."},{"author_name":"argo15","author_uid":"11833","time":"Apr 25, 2012 @ 9:15am","epoch":1335345000,"text":"Pretty cool.  The first level where you play a dead AI was kind of weird. then I looked at the how to play page and it said that you have to play against yourself, so to play it at least once.  I thought that this was a pretty cool concept!  You could have made the first play through have a tutorial so that it didn't seem like you were playing against a braindead ai, but just doing a tutorial but I understand the time constraints.  Very good game."},{"author_name":"schattenkind.net","author_uid":"13106","time":"Apr 25, 2012 @ 9:39am","epoch":1335346440,"text":"Nice polished game. You can try porting it to Linux and MacOSX using Monogame. I wrote a short how-to, maybe it's usefull :-) \r<br\/>\r<br\/>http:\/\/crankgaming.blogspot.de\/2012\/02\/xna-to-monogame.html"},{"author_name":"10WonXero10","author_uid":"12014","time":"Apr 25, 2012 @ 10:30am","epoch":1335349500,"text":"Cool game, I liked it."},{"author_name":"rfgpfeiffer","author_uid":"7968","time":"Apr 25, 2012 @ 3:49pm","epoch":1335368640,"text":"Hello, fellow artillery game coder! I like your trick for making an AI opponent. I might steal it for my own game."},{"author_name":"chambers","author_uid":"11981","time":"Apr 26, 2012 @ 3:30am","epoch":1335410700,"text":"Really nice concept, very original, and very funny. I think you should keep on working on this project, because the current game still lacks a little bit of balance (also, my randomly generated terrain was terrible D=) I'd love to play a full game based out of this someday.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>Also, too bad the &quot;how to play&quot; page spoiled what was going to happen! It would have been much better if you encouraged the player to play more than one match in some other way =\/\r<br\/>\r<br\/>Anyway, I liked it a lot!"},{"author_name":"ratboy2713","author_uid":"5162","time":"Apr 26, 2012 @ 9:37pm","epoch":1335475920,"text":"Very funny, and I like anything where mages are being powerful and wasteful. The problem is the AI tends to bury itself in the ground, making it very hard to hit, dragging matches on much longer than they should be. Perhaps a layer of lava halfway down so they just drop off and you don't have to be so finicky with controls?"},{"author_name":"LukeRissacher","author_uid":"10956","time":"Apr 26, 2012 @ 11:17pm","epoch":1335481920,"text":"Nice one - had fun playing. An AI opponent would have been added a bit more challenge and replay value I think. Gonna check out the source code when I get time, been wanting to play around with 2D XNA programming for a change (most of what I've done is 3D). I like the Terraria-esque small destructible tile approach."},{"author_name":"Kitch","author_uid":"7470","time":"Apr 27, 2012 @ 12:59am","epoch":1335488040,"text":"@ratboy2713 and @LukeRissacher - I think you both may have missed the details of &quot;important note #1&quot; above, on the off chance you come back and read this.  \r<br\/>\r<br\/>On a side note, given the nature of the game mechanics, I find the &quot;AI tends to bury itself&quot; comment rather amusing.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>Thank you all for the comments... and schattenkind.net, thanks for the link.  I will try and port it over."},{"author_name":"LukeRissacher","author_uid":"10956","time":"Apr 27, 2012 @ 4:03am","epoch":1335499080,"text":"@Kitch: thanks - yeah, I got that part - I played through probably 4 sessions - but with different terrain my previous session's moves weren't too effective against me :)."},{"author_name":"Kitch","author_uid":"7470","time":"Apr 27, 2012 @ 5:12am","epoch":1335503220,"text":"@LukeRissacher - ma'bad.  I was picturing you playing the first round against the dummy and thinking, &quot;An AI opponent would have been nice&quot;.  :)\r<br\/>\r<br\/>Side note, the terrain seed should save with the play through, only mirrored.  Didn't get a chance to test that as much as I'd like though."},{"author_name":"Miltage","author_uid":"8745","time":"Apr 28, 2012 @ 9:57pm","epoch":1335649920,"text":"Really cool game. You managed to get a surprisingly well-polished game done, I was quite impressed. Graphics are nice and the terrain destruction works nicely. Good job!"},{"author_name":"Beerman","author_uid":"5206","time":"May 10, 2012 @ 3:22pm","epoch":1336663020,"text":"Looks great, lots of fun. Love the sneaky way you got out of coding any AI ;)"},{"author_name":"maxman43","author_uid":"6842","time":"May 13, 2012 @ 5:20am","epoch":1336886100,"text":"I would play this if there were a web version.  You should consider doing a web version for future games."}],"images":["ld23\/7470-7968e26388c00bbe7c369fd7cedee490.jpg","ld23\/7470-5dc21bcf830ab99147589a5f04ac5dd1.jpg","ld23\/7470-50ec85361034e2505a720f61ad245bd5.jpg","ld23\/7470-176efd4aef193bbe86aa018906175ec9.jpg","ld23\/7470-e7fe9c84fd563792700ec32dd43bb014.jpg"],"links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dl.dropbox.com\/u\/53659597\/MageDuelRaw_LD23.zip","text":"Windows (I already have XNA)"},{"url":"http:\/\/dl.dropbox.com\/u\/53659597\/MageDuelInstall_LD23.zip","text":"Windows (I don't have XNA)"},{"url":"http:\/\/dl.dropbox.com\/u\/53659597\/MageDuelSource_LD23.zip","text":"Source"}],"metadata":{"g_key":"31080","g_author":"7470","g_event":"LD23","g_eventkey":"10","g_subevent":"COMPO","g_urlkey":"31110","g_title":"Mage Duel","g_status":"UCHK1","g_place":"175","g_commentcount":"27","g_site2_node_id":"0","g_hide":"N","g_has_icon":"Y","g_rqueue":"0","g_random":"0"},"nds":[],"node":null,"orig_images":["http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/123793\/7470-shot0.jpg-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/123793\/7470-shot1.png-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/123793\/7470-shot2.jpg-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/123793\/7470-shot3.jpg-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/123793\/7470-shot4.jpg-eq-900-500.jpg"],"text":"For centuries when mages would disagree, they would spend hours in boring and pointless debates that would last for sometimes years.  To counteract this, they developed the \"Trial Plane\", a tiny world existing solely for the resolution of these conflicts.\r\n\r\nThe game is basically an artillery game.  (You know, like Scorched Earth, or the game with the gorillas and bananas.)  Two twists, its in real time and it uses your previous play throughs as opponents.\r\n\r\nIMPORTANT NOTE #1 - The game uses your previous play throughs as your opponents.  Therefore, you must play the game at least 2 times (The first time is against a dummy) to get the other mage firing back.  \r\n\r\nIMPORTANT NOTE #2 - The game is in XNA 4.0.  If YOU DO NOT have XNA, you will need to use the install package or download XNA from the links below. If you ALREADY  HAVE Xna installed on your machine, you can download the \"RAW\" link.  \r\n\r\nUp Arrow, Down Arrow, W, S - Change Power\r\nLeft Arrow, Right Arrow, D, A - Change Angle\r\n1-7 - Cast Spells\r\n\r\n.NET 4.0 DOWNLOAD\r\nhttp:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/download\/en\/details.aspx?id=24872\r\nXNA 4.0 Redistrutable DOWNLOAD\r\nhttp:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/download\/en\/details.aspx?id=20914\r\n\r\nThanks for your time!\r\n\r\n  <\/p>","title":"Mage Duel"}